Monday, July 10, 2006

The "negotiations" with Iran over its nuclear program have been a farce from the start. The Monk said two years ago that we needed Osirak Attack II because the whole "negotiation" process would just be a delay-and-feint game by Iran as it ramped up its nuclear program. And he's been right all along.

News gets worse: the US backed down from its opposition to Muhammed El-Baradei's re-election for a third term of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the alleged nuclear power watchdog of the UN, because so many European states indicated they supported him. Of course, the US sees that good deed get punished:

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency effectively fired his lead Iran investigator this spring at the request of the Iranians, according to a new report in the German newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag.

The lead inspector of the 15-man IAEA team in Iran, Chris Charlier, told the newspaper that the IAEA chief, Mohammad ElBaradei, agreed to a request the Iranian government made, and relegated Mr. Charlier, a 64-year-old Belgian, to office work at the organization's Vienna-based headquarters. The Iranian request was reportedly made when Mr. ElBaradei visited Iran in April.

Get it? Charlier didn't take the BS line from Iran at face value, Iran wanted him gone in favor of someone who would, El Baradei agreed. What a useless process.